Gerald Wilde

Acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill January 1947 for £10.0.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of Part of a Collection of Oil Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, Esq., December 1947 - February 1948, cat. no.38 (as Abstract Scene);
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part IV- section 4), cat. no.34;
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no.279.

The sheet is sound and has been laid down. There is small fleck of paint loss near the lower left corner and the surface is slightly dirty. Otherwise the work is in good overall condition. Held under glass in a gilt frame with a canvas mount. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Although well-known in the 1940s and 1950s, Wilde has almost entirely dropped out of view, yet he represents a very particular type and moment in British art. Trained at Chelsea School of Art, he was shown by The Hanover Gallery in 1948, was the subject of an I.C.A. retrospective in 1955, and was championed by critics as influential as John Berger and David Sylvester.

However, as part of the hard-drinking, hard-living Soho set of the post-war period, his life grew increasingly erratic and with a wider change of taste away from his bold expressionistic style, he became passed by, most often remembered as the basis for the character of Gully Jimson in Joyce Cary's 1944 novel The Horse's Mouth, in the later film of which Jimson would be played by Alec Guinness. 

Perhaps the most telling mark of the neglect of Wilde was that whilst he was commissioned to design the cover for the Arts Council's 1951 Festival of Britain exhibition, he was not invited to exhibit.